BOW Weekend

My fellow classmates and our animal tracks we cast.

The woman holding the bottle of wine was awarded this for

identifying the most tracks on our test.

Yes, even at this age I can't get away from test taking!

I spent the most wonderful weekend with 90+ inspirational women at the annual BOW (Becoming and Outdoorswoman) winter workshop. This is the 4th time that I've attended one of these workshops and each time I can't wait for the next one. I decided to be less outdoorsy this time but still learned an ENORMOUS amount.

My first workshop on Friday was astronomy -- I can now successfully locate the North Star, Orion, Venus, and many others thanks to my handy-dandy constellation wheel. The two women who taught this class are quite passionate about their hobby and brought their telecopes with them that were larger than some of the women in our class (not me of course)! We learned astronomy etiquette also -- did you know that when you go to a 'Star Gazing Party' you're not allowed to carry a white flashlight? Red is the correct color so that your eyes can best adjust to the stars. We were up in Tomahawk so the evening sky was like being in a planetarium. Once the clouds came in we attended a program presented by a fellow BOW member who got a chance to work with the 2008 Team Deshka Iditarod (http://alaskafrontier.net/Idtarod_08.html). Wow, what an experience!!

The next day was fun packed from the time that I woke for breakfast until I collapsed in bed. Our first session was animal tracking and again our instructor was AWESOME. We learned tips on how to identify animal tracks based on their prints and yes, scat-ology. I can't wait to teach Manny & CeCe what I learned! It snowed in the morning so the instructor wasn't sure that we'd find any tracks but low and behold, we saw deer, mouse, rabbit and a grouse. We were so surprised to see the grouse that we spooked it and it flew away but as it was trying to reach altitude it left 'angel' wings from its takeoff. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't keep my camera in my pocket and the battery froze. Grrrrrr. I'm hoping that another (more intelligent) BOW groupie can send me a picture of God's nature pallette. In the afternoon I learned to use power tools and made an awesome little box that I cut and put together complete with counter-sunk holes!

That evening we had the most moving presentation from one of the first all-woman non-sponsored team to make it to the North Pole in 2001, Frida Waara (http://www.fridawaara.com/about.html). Wow! What a woman!! I was so moved by her presentation that I had tears in my eyes when the program ended. There were so many questions I had for her . . . how did she keep her head when there was so much at stake? I kept thinking of her all night; not that I have any interest in skiing to the North Pole but geez, if this woman can do something of this grand scale I surely should be able to overcome the tiny obstacles in my mundane life -- right? This morning as I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth who should be standing next to me at the sink in her PJ's?? Frida!! I thought about asking her my questions but I was so starstruck I just smiled and wished her a good day. What a woos I am!! OK, Frida -- if I ever meet up with you in the bathroom again I'll be sure to have my head screwed on straight and realize that even though you're a goddess, you're just a woman . . . yea right 'just' a woman? Who am I kidding??

After I regained my composure I met up with two of my roommates for breakfast and then off to our last class, nature wreath making. I'm pretty impressed with my attempt to be 'Nature Woman' as Manny calls me when we donn our alter egos and become part of the night-time story around the summer campfire. I'm not so sure that I'm ready for sleeping in a hut made of snow and pine bows, hunter safety, or the rifle range but I would like to sharpen my ice fishing, tracking, and snow showing skills next year. Want to join me?

Talent Show

Nose kazoos Pastor Claudia and Pastor Carly; aka Ethel and Lucy at the Candy Factory

Tonight my uber-talented grandchildren participated in our church talent show. CeCe and her friend Sam did a number from the Chipmunks with their hoola hoops and Manny did a number from High School Musical, 'Bet on It'. Not that I'm bias, but they were simply AWESOME!!!! To have the courage to get up in front of a group of strangers and singularly perform is beyond any amount of courage that I have. I was, and am, quite proud of them :-)

Gary Morgan, one of my friends from choir, gave out nose kazoos -- yes, really -- they had to play a song from their nose. It took a bit of practice but the kids were able to play 'God Bless America' with their new instruments. He didn't ask for them back so now Carrie can be serenaded by this new-found talent until the novelty wears off.

Two of our pastors, Claudia and Carly did the 'I Love Lucy' skit -- the one where they worked in the candy factory. It was hilarious!

Maybe, just maybe, I'll think of doing something next year . . . or, maybe not.

Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands

Pilot Island

I got my third newsletter out for the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands (FOPPI) this week. This is becoming quite the interesting volunteer activity for me . . . mix a passion for history, restoration and preservation with that of lighthouses and wala -- a full obsession.

This all started with a quick trip over to Rock Island two summers ago with my friends, Karen and Sue. While on the ferry Karen pointed out Pilot Island and noted that the cormorants were deforesting the island, leaving the lighthouse to the elements. You know how you learn something new and then within a few days you learn another thing new that's related to the first thing but you never would have linked the two together? Well, that's exactly how this happened . . . after returning from the wonderful girl weekend (albeit bitten in every inch of my being by horseflies), I stumbled on an article about a successful experiment where the Chicago suburb of Barrington used recycled Christmas trees and discarded utility poles to entice the cormorants to roost on these instead of the trees. It worked and soon the foliage returned. I shared this with Karen and she did some research to try and find the right person to forward my article to. So, at the same time as I was being the self-proclaimed cormorant researcher the Friends of Plum and Pilot Island was being formed with the direction of Tim Sweet who worked to restore the historic lighthouse on Rock Island. So of course we quickly sent in our dues and became one of the FOPPI followers. We quickly learned that the cormorant problem isn't as easy as was written in the Barrington story . . . the Fish and Wildlife Department respect these awesome animals and encourage us to do the same. No problem, we can still work our magic on Plum Island (along with a bunch of money). So, in a weak moment I volunteered to edit the newsletter until Tim found someone else. I get the feeling he's not really looking . . . not that I mind though; this has turned out to be a wonderful activity.

I 'edit' (aka publish) four newsletters a year and have set up various feature sections such as Island Inspirations where I write about people who have lived or worked on the islands; Light Lessons - learn something about the lights or lighthouses in general; Nature Notebook - what else is on and around the island; Beacons - things to take notice of; and a book review of lighthouse-related books. Pretty cool, hey?

In future editions I plan to write up some material on the Fresnel lens that's in the Plum Island light, shipwrecks around Pilot, and more on the history of the light. I'm on the hunt for material and have been feverishly reading back editions of 'Lighthouse Digest' and books that I've found (cheap) on Ebay. Of course, additional inspiration from my friends is greatly appreciated!